We are seriously living in strange times. I recently had to venture out of the house to make a much needed trip to the grocery store. Barren shelves. Face masks. Vinyl gloves. Going to the grocery store without my 3 kids in tow used to feel like such a luxurious experience. Now, I’m trying to get in and out as quickly as possible, trying not to touch anyone or anything other than the few items the store managed to restock since people lost their minds and snatched up all the toilet paper.
But I was able to find ground beef, so looks like meat’s back on the menu, boys!
Cubans have pretty much mastered the art of sweet and savory. If you don’t believe me, you’ve never had some fried platano with Cuban steak, and I feel sad for you. Don’t worry, though — we’ll get there. But for now, we’re going to make a super easy dish that checks all of the boxes of Sweet, Savory, Nutritious, and Allergy Friendly, and that’s Cuban Picadillo.
So, if you know Spanish or you just tried to google “Picadillo in English”, you know that picadillo just means hash. Like “corned beef hash” kind of hash. Except while you could pretty much hash anything that you can chop into tiny bits, Cuban picadillo is a ground beef hash in a tomato based sauce. I did consult my copy of Cocina Criolla for this one, but — as brazen as this feels — Nitza got this one wrong.
See, Cuban picadillo was one of the staple recipes in my home growing up. And in my family, picadillo has to have 2 things: raisins and pimento olives. Without these two items, it’s just not picadillo.
Honestly, I don’t even like olives. But when I cook picadillo, I add the olives, then pick them out of the food on my plate and gift them to whomever is near me that liked them. Growing up, that was always my sister, who could pretty much eat them by the handful. Now that I’m married and have kids of my own, I have to find a new olive eater. Hubs is not too keen on them. My firstborn and middle child are undecided. Maybe the baby will love them. Time will tell.
So basically, you start by browning your ground beef. If you got a very fatty ground beef ( as in, you can see fat pooling around the beef as it cooks), I suggest straining the fat, then using olive oil to cook everything else, as olive oil is a healthier fat.
Once the beef is browned and strained, you basically add everything except your potatoes to the pot to cook. Simmer it all together for about 10 minutes, softening the vegetables, plumping the raisins, and letting all those wonderful flavors blend. After that, you submerge your peeled and quartered potatoes under the stew. When they’re easily pierced with a fork, you’re done. Scoop a ladle full over white rice to serve. It’s that easy.
A few notes on this recipe:
- I use ½ cup of white wine in this dish. After years of watching Lidia Bastianich and Jacques Pépin on PBS, I know that you should cook using the same wine that you would drink. That means you do NOT buy “cooking wine”. “Cooking wine”, like “cooking sherry”, includes tons of preservatives and lots of sodium. And honestly, if it’s not good enough to drink on its own, why cook with it?
If you just don’t want to buy wine, substitute ¼ cup of white vinegar and ¼ cup of water. You need the liquid to cook your potatoes, and you need the acidity. Acidity helps to bring out and blend the delicious flavors of the individual components of the food, as well as tenderize the meat. - This stew freezes pretty well, but potatoes aren’t so freezer friendly. You could just freeze it all together and deal with the potatoes upon reheating. Or you could prepare the picadillo without potatoes, then once you reheat the picadillo, cook fresh potatoes in the stew.
- If you do strain the fat out of your meat, do NOT pour it down the drain. This will wreak havoc on septic systems and sewer systems alike.
Cuban Picadillo
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Ground Beef lean
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2 tsp Salt (table salt)
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 tsp Onion Powder
- ¼ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp Cumin
- 1 Green Bell Pepper minced
- 1 Onion (large, white) minced
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- ¼ cup Pimento Olives (with brine)
- 1 cup Raisins
- 15 oz Tomato Sauce (1 can)
- ½ cup White Wine
- 2 to 3 Potatoes (large) peeled & quartered
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef in a large pot on medium high heat. Once the beef is completely brown and no pink remains, strain the beef if fat is pooling. Return the beef back to the pot, and lower the heat to medium.
- Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to the pot, as well as minced green bell pepper, minced onion, and minced garlic.
- In a small mixing bowl, mix 2 tsp table salt, 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, and 1/4 tsp cumin. Sprinkle mixture over meat and vegetables in pot. Stir everything until very well mixed.
- Add the can of tomato sauce, 1/2 cup of white wine, 1/4 cup of pimento olives with brine, and 1 cup of raisins. Stir it all together until well mixed and let the picadillo cook at a lively simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and push them down into the sauce so they are completely submerged. Stirring the picadillo every so often so that the bottom doesn't stick, let the potatoes cook for about 25-30 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork.
- Spoon the picadillo over white rice to serve.
Notes
- Calorie count does not include rice.
